Last week, The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s viral Tumblr page updated with a faux story from “The Daily Bugle” that mentioned Spider Slayer inventor Spencer Smythe. Today, the site has been updated again with the below article from reporter Ned Leeds:

A trial date has been set in the New York Appellate Court for alleged bio-terrorist Dr. Curt Connors. The former Oscorp biogenetics scientist has been indicted on twenty city and state counts, including trespassing, malicious destruction of property, theft of private property, aggravated assault, and using a weapon of mass destruction.

Connors has pleaded not guilty to all counts. It is expected his defense attorney, Anne Weying, will claim Connors was not responsible for the actions of his genetically transformed alter ego, the Lizard.

Connors claimed that pressure placed on him by his employer, Oscorp, led him to rush his bio-restorative formula and test it on himself. He further stipulated to the grand jury that his decision to use the untested compound was made in an effort to protect the company from experimenting on innocent civilians, as directed by his superiors. Connors immediate supervisor at Oscorp, Dr. Rajit Ratha, has been missing since the day before the Lizards attack.

Oscorp spokesman, Donald Menken, responded, We cant corroborate or deny Dr. Connors claims. Dr. Rathas abrupt departure from Oscorp has left us with far more questions than answers. Needless to say, Oscorp has always complied with the most stringent local, state and federal regulations for all of our research and development.

Leeds, Spider-fans will recall, was a regular character in “The Amazing Spider-Man” who, in addition to marrying Betty Brant, was at one point revealed to have been the face behind Spidey’s mysterious foe, the Hobgoblin. It was retconned quite a few years later, however, that Leeds was never the villain and had, instead, been brainwashed into thinking he was by the true culprit, Roderick Kingsley.

Also mentioned in the article are Anne Weying and Donald Menken. The former was the ex-wife of Eddie Brock, aka Venom and herself took on the symbiote for a brief period as She-Venom. Although Menken himself doesn’t have a colorful alter-ego, the character’s first appearance as an Oscorp employee was “The Amazing Spider-Man” #239, the beginning of the first full-fledged Hobgoblin story.